I. Field
The following description relates generally to communication systems and, amongst other things, to communication in a multi-hop wireless network.
II. Background
Wireless communication networks are utilized to communicate information regardless of where a user may be located (e.g., inside or outside) and regardless of whether the user is mobile or stationary. Generally, wireless communication networks are established through a mobile device communicating with a base station or access point. The access point covers a geographic range or cell and, as a mobile device is operated, the mobile device may be moved in and out of these geographic cells. To achieve virtually uninterrupted communication, the mobile device is assigned resources of the cell it has entered and is de-assigned resources of the cell it has exited.
In a multi-hop topology, a communication or transmission is transferred through a number of wireless hops or segments to an access point with a wired connection to a public (e.g., Internet) or private network. Overall latency is one of several issues that should be considered for the entire communication path (e.g., from a source to a destination), not just during an immediate hop. A control field placed in a single location at the start of a slot may increase delays when the control field is used to request and/or grant resources and to acknowledge transmissions. This problem can be accentuated when used in multi-hop wireless networks.